Be sure to tune in each month to deconstruct the great mysteries of the universe with sophomore Lillian Campbell. Students and faculty have already submitted their metaphysical maladies to Lillian, including: “If deadlines are social constructs, then why must I still turn in my lab report on time?” and “How can I find motivation to prepare myself for the future if I do not believe in ontological self-determination?” So, join the fun and email Lillian at l_campbell@dublinschool.org with your own philosophical conundrums. Trust us, no question is too weird.

February’s Question: How does one think?

This a question I have been asking myself for as long as I can remember. Not why (I’ve thought about that too) but how.. Where did I learn to think? For me, thinking has a few different stages or levels, but I (as difﬁcult as it is to admit it) talk inside my head. I am not insane, not for this reason at least, but when I think through a math problem, do a puzzle, or draw a picture, there is a commentary of me explaining what I am doing to myself. Do you do this as well? Is it possible we all think in different ways?

When people started researching this question, one thing became very evident: we do not do this naturally. We are not necessarily born to think at ourselves because in order to consciously think these higher level thoughts, we must be able to first speak. So does higher thinking start when our speech is developed?

Would this explain why we don’t have many early memories? Perhaps we simply didn’t have a way to catalogue them without these words to first form thoughts to tag these memories in our minds.